Customs Clearance for Amazon Canada Sellers: How It Works, Who Does What, and How to Recover the GST (2026)

If you send inventory into Canada for Amazon FBA, you are an importer. Amazon does not clear customs for you. CBSA does not stop the shipment at the border and quietly route it to your Amazon fulfillment centre on its own. Someone has to be named as the importer of record, someone has to file the entry, someone has to pay the duty and import GST, and someone has to keep the records. This guide walks through how customs clearance actually works for Amazon Canada sellers, what each party in the chain is responsible for, and the part most sellers miss: the GST you pay at the border is recoverable if you are GST/HST registered.

Applies to both Canadian-resident and non-resident sellers shipping into Amazon FBA Canada, Walmart Fulfillment Services Canada, or any other Canadian fulfillment destination.

The short answer

How a customs clearance actually flows

From the moment your supplier hands the container to a carrier until the goods land in your Amazon fulfillment centre, the typical sequence is:

1. Supplier prepares export documents. Commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin if claiming a preferential tariff. The commercial invoice values and HS classifications drive everything downstream.
2. Freight forwarder books the carrier. Ocean, air, road, or rail. The forwarder coordinates pick-up from the supplier, the export leg, and delivery to the Canadian port of entry.
3. Goods arrive at the Canadian port of entry. Halifax, Montreal, Toronto Pearson, Vancouver, Prince Rupert, or a land crossing such as Windsor or Pacific Highway.
4. Customs entry is filed. Your customs broker (or you directly, if you are licensed) files a release request with CBSA via the CARM portal. The entry declares the importer of record, the HS classification, the value for duty, the country of origin, and any preferential tariff claims.
5. CBSA assesses duty and import GST. CBSA calculates the duty (if any) and the 5% GST on the duty-paid value. These amounts are billed to the importer of record through the CARM portal account.
6. Goods are released. Once CBSA releases the shipment, the forwarder or domestic carrier moves the goods from port to the Amazon fulfillment centre (or to your 3PL, your home, or wherever you direct).
7. Final accounting and statement of account. The broker files a final accounting and the importer settles the duty and GST through CARM.

The seller’s name shows up on this process in two places: as the importer of record on the entry, and as the account holder in CARM. Both have to be set up correctly before the first shipment, or shipments get held.

Who does what: roles in a customs clearance

Importer of record: who can be named

The importer of record (IOR) is the legal party responsible to CBSA for the import. The IOR’s name appears on the entry, the duty and import GST are billed to the IOR’s CARM account, and CBSA holds the IOR responsible if anything is wrong with the declaration.

Three common scenarios for Amazon Canada sellers:

• Canadian-resident seller. You are the IOR on your own imports, your CARM account is in your business name, your customs broker files entries against your account, and the duty and import GST are billed to you.
• Non-resident seller, importing under your own name. You become a non-resident importer (NRI). You hold your own CARM account, you file BSF900 to designate your Canadian record custodian, and you are billed directly for duty and import GST. This is the path most non-resident Amazon FBA sellers use because it preserves their input tax credit recovery once registered for GST/HST.
• Non-resident seller using a Canadian agent or distributor as IOR. A Canadian-resident party imports on your behalf and resells to you in Canada. Simpler from a customs perspective but you lose visibility on the import GST and may lose the ITC recovery depending on the arrangement.

The two costs at the border: duty and import GST

CBSA bills the importer for two distinct amounts, and they behave very differently for tax purposes.

Customs duty

Duty is a tariff on the value of the imported goods. The rate depends on the HS (Harmonized System) classification of the product and the country of origin. Most consumer goods imported from the US or Mexico under CUSMA are duty-free if they qualify as originating. Goods from China, the EU, the UK, or Southeast Asia typically attract duty at the rate published in Canada’s Customs Tariff schedule. Duty is not recoverable. It is a real cost of getting the goods into Canada and should be included in your landed cost for inventory valuation.

Import GST

The federal 5% GST is applied at the border to the duty-paid value of the goods (value for duty plus any duty itself). This is collected by CBSA on every commercial import shipment regardless of seller GST registration. Import GST is recoverable. If you are GST/HST registered, the import GST charged on the entry becomes an input tax credit on your next GST/HST return. If you are not registered, the import GST is a sunk cost you can never recover.

Worked example: a container from China to Amazon Toronto

CARM: the portal that sits behind every clearance

Since 2024, CBSA has consolidated importer interaction onto the CARM Client Portal (CARM = CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management). Every commercial importer, resident or non-resident, must:

• Have an active Canadian Business Number (BN) with an import-export (RM) program account.
• Register on the CARM Client Portal and link the RM account.
• Post financial security with CBSA (a bond or cash deposit) before goods can be released under the importer’s account.
• If non-resident: have an approved BSF900 on file designating where records are kept and who the Canadian record custodian is.

Without these in place, customs entries cannot be filed against your account and shipments will be held. See our detailed walkthrough on how to file the BSF900 for the customs records side, which we handle as part of our CBSA Record Custody service.

Customs broker: do you need one?

Technically no. CBSA allows importers to file their own customs entries through CARM. In practice, almost all Amazon FBA sellers use a licensed customs broker because:

• HS classification is more nuanced than it looks and a wrong code can trigger duty rate corrections, penalties, and reassessments years later.
• Brokers carry liability insurance for classification and valuation errors.
• Entry filings are time-sensitive and brokers have established CBSA relationships.
• CUSMA, CETA, and other preferential tariff claims require specific certificates and rules-of-origin analysis.

The broker’s fee is typically a flat amount per entry ($75 to $150 per shipment for routine consumer goods) plus disbursements. For most sellers this is cost-of-business; the alternative is a sub-optimal HS classification that overstates duty by several percent every shipment.

What if my supplier ships DDP?

Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) is the Incoterm where your supplier or freight forwarder handles everything door to door, including the Canadian customs entry and the duty and import GST payment. The goods land at your Amazon fulfillment centre with all the import costs bundled into a single per-unit price.

DDP is common with new Amazon FBA Canada sellers because it removes the operational lift of setting up CARM, posting financial security, and retaining a broker. The catch is that under DDP the freight forwarder is the importer of record on the CBSA entry, which means two things:

• You cannot recover the import GST as an input tax credit. ITCs follow the importer of record, and that is the forwarder, not you.
• When DDP quotes from China-based forwarders are meaningfully cheaper than a clean import, most of the gap is built from under-declared values and aggressive HS classifications. CBSA can reassess for up to four years and the bill can be handed back to you as the owner of the goods.

The math on DDP vs your own clean import (with a 12-month worked example, the under-declaration mechanics in detail, and a transition-off-DDP walkthrough) is its own conversation. We covered it in depth in our dedicated guide: DDP Shipping for Amazon FBA Canada: Why Cheap Quotes Are Usually Built on Under-Declaration (2026).

The five most expensive mistakes

1. Wrong HS classification. The classification drives the duty rate. A 6.5% code applied to goods that should have been 0% costs you 6.5% of the value of every shipment going back four years if CBSA catches it. The reverse direction (0% claimed when 6.5% applied) is worse: back-duty plus penalty plus interest.
2. Letting the freight forwarder be the importer of record. The forwarder books the broker fee margin and you lose the import GST input tax credit because the credit follows the IOR.
3. No CARM portal registration before the first shipment. Shipments get held at the port. Storage and demurrage fees start accruing immediately.
4. Non-resident importing without BSF900 on file. Your CBSA import-export account gets suspended or never issued. No future shipments clear under your account.
5. Not claiming the import GST as an ITC. If you are registered but you (or your bookkeeper) forget to enter the import GST from the broker invoice as an input tax credit, you have paid the GST and given the recovery to CRA for free. This is the single most common ITC miss we see in Amazon seller bookkeeping cleanups.

Frequently asked questions

Does Amazon clear customs for me?

No. Amazon is the fulfillment service, not the importer. You (or your customs broker on your behalf) are responsible for filing the customs entry, paying duty and import GST, and keeping the records. Amazon receives the goods only after they have been released by CBSA.

Do I need a customs broker for Amazon FBA Canada shipments?

Technically no, you can file your own entries through CARM. In practice, almost all Amazon sellers use a licensed Canadian customs broker because HS classification, preferential tariff claims, and CBSA audit response require expertise that costs more to get wrong than the broker’s fee costs to retain.

Who is the importer of record for my Amazon FBA shipments?

You. Amazon does not act as IOR. If you are Canadian-resident, your business is the IOR on your own CARM account. If you are non-resident, you become a non-resident importer (NRI) with your own CARM account and a BSF900 filing for record custody, or you arrange for a Canadian-resident agent to act as IOR and resell to you (which usually costs you the import GST recovery).

What is the GST collected at the border and can I get it back?

CBSA collects 5% federal GST on the duty-paid value of every commercial import. If you are GST/HST registered, the import GST is recoverable as an input tax credit on your next GST/HST return. If you are not registered, the import GST is a permanent cost. This is one of the strongest commercial reasons for non-resident Amazon sellers to register for full GST/HST.

What is the difference between duty and GST at the border?

Duty is a tariff on the value of the goods, with rates set by Canada’s Customs Tariff based on the HS classification and country of origin. Duty is not recoverable; it is part of your landed cost. GST is the federal 5% sales tax applied to the duty-paid value. GST is recoverable as an input tax credit for registered businesses.

How does CARM affect my customs clearance?

CARM is now the only way commercial importers interact with CBSA. You must be registered on the CARM Client Portal with an active import-export (RM) account, post financial security, and (for non-residents) have an approved BSF900 on file. Without those steps your shipments will not clear.

Can my freight forwarder be the importer of record?

Sometimes they offer this, but for Amazon sellers it is almost always a bad call. You lose the ability to claim the import GST as an input tax credit because the credit follows the IOR on the entry, not the owner of the goods. You also create a dependency on the forwarder that is hard to unwind if you change providers. The recommended setup is your own CARM account with your own IOR status.

What records do I have to keep on imports?

CBSA requires importers to keep all import-related records for six years following importation, including commercial invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, HS classification rationale, CARM statements, and broker invoices. Non-residents whose records are not kept at a Canadian place of business need an approved BSF900 designating a Canadian record custodian (which is what JCCA’s CBSA Record Custody service is built around).

What if I import DDP?

DDP gets its own dedicated treatment because the trade-offs are substantial: you cannot recover the import GST as an ITC, and cheap DDP quotes from China-based forwarders are usually built on under-declaration that does not survive a CBSA audit. Full breakdown including a 12-month landed-cost comparison and a transition-off-DDP walkthrough in our DDP Shipping for Amazon FBA Canada guide.

What to do next

If you are an Amazon Canada seller, resident or non-resident, the customs side of your business is one of those areas that looks fine until it does not. The cleanest setup is: your own CARM account, your own IOR status, a competent customs broker for the entry filings, a CPA to recover the import GST and hold the records, and clean monthly bookkeeping that ties the broker invoices back to the GST/HST return.

We do the GST recovery and the CARM-side compliance for our e-commerce bookkeeping and Non-Resident GST/HST clients, and we handle the record custody side through our CBSA Record Custody service. If you are also doing your first Amazon Canada shipment, we can coordinate the broker selection.

Get in touch with a short note about whether you are Canadian-resident or non-resident, where you import from, your monthly Amazon Canada volume, and whether you already have a customs broker. We respond within one business day with a fixed-fee quote. Pricing on our pricing page.

Related reading from our blog:

• How to File the BSF900: A Step-by-Step Guide for Non-Resident Importers
• Amazon FBA Canada GST/HST for Non-Resident Sellers: When to Register and Why
• Does Amazon Collect and Remit GST/HST for Sellers on Amazon Canada? (2026)
• GST Input Tax Credits on Freight Forwarding for Amazon Sellers